Read The Fall for Free Online Page B

mine,” she replied. “From my data-driven point of view, Alpha-B would have placed Jack at least two miles off the planned target, and dangerously close to the outside of the safety pipe. Not only would he have missed the target, but he could have struck a bird or another foreign object. I just don’t get why you would insist on a descent profile that would had added unnecessary risk to the mission.”
    â€œIf your Alpha-G profile was so data-driven , Doctor, then tell me, why did the mission fail?”
    Angela frowned. “I don’t know yet, but I do know it had nothing to do with Alpha-G. It was still the best descent profile.”
    â€œSo you do acknowledge changing it without my authorization.”
    â€œNo, I’m trying to tell you that what happened had nothing to do with Alpha-G or Alpha-B, or any of the other descent profile options for this jump. The telemetry strongly suggests that this was not a descent-profile-triggered event, and we need to figure out what happened. My husband vanished into thin air. There was no reentry burn-up. The OSS didn’t fail. We need time to dig through the telemetry and piece together what happened, where he went.”
    Hastings shook his head. “ Where he went? Doctor, I hate to break this to you, but your husband’s gone.” He made a fist before stretching his fingers. “Poof! Gone. Dead. And you are responsible. You’re not going to get out of this one so easily. You disobeyed a direct order in a military mission, resulting in disaster. You committed treason, Dr. Taylor, and I will see that you pay for it. And you’re not even a first-time offender. With your prior, you’re definitely getting the death penalty.”
    â€œWhat prior?”
    â€œReally, Doctor?” Hastings grinned while slowly shaking his head. “Does the name Anonymous ring a bell?”
    She glared at him for a moment.
    Angela had been raised by her father, Miguel “Mickey” Valle, a hardcore motorcycle mechanic and first-generation Cuban American, after her mother died during child labor. But disaster struck again when she was fourteen. Mickey Valle had lost his battle with lung cancer from a lifetime of smoking, and shortly afterward Angela had gone rogue, joining Anonymous, a group of hackers dating back to 2003, where she quickly became one of their best “Black Hat Hackers.” Within a year, Angela made the mistake of hacking into the FBI for bragging rights, got caught, and was offered a deal: work for the Bureau at an undisclosed cybercrime facility in Orlando for room and board until finishing high school, or go to a Florida juvenile detention facility.
    Some choice, she thought, remembering how she had reluctantly gone for the former, becoming a “Gray Hat Hacker” for Uncle Sam, helping the Bureau fight cybercrime during nights and weekends while finishing high school, and returning to her dad’s old bike shop on the day of her high school graduation. Her dad’s partner and his fellow mechanics, who had taken over the business and had pretty much adopted her, pooled their funds to send her to FIT in nearby Melbourne, where she got her degree in computer engineering before her grades earned her a scholarship to MIT.
    â€œI was fourteen , General, and I paid for it. In return, my record got cleared, purged. And the FBI assured me that event would be locked away forever.”
    â€œDo you think I don’t have access to everything ? Besides, you know what they say, Doctor?”
    Angela didn’t reply. She was angry at herself for letting this asshole get to her.
    Hastings continued. “Once a hacker, always a hacker. You can’t help it. It’s who you are. You committed a criminal act at fourteen and you have now graduated to high treason at forty. I’m taking you down.”
    â€œIn that case, General, I know my rights. I want my lawyer.”
    â€œTerrorists have no